Roma!

"When in Rome" has taken on a whole new meaning now that Kelli, myself, my buddy Brian and his girlfriend Aurea ran pretty wild last weekend. Details are sketchy but we hit every major sight (except for the Sistine Chapel which closes at noon on Saturdays, damn it!) as well as created some new memories in locations that would seem there without a "you had to be there" preface.

Case in point, we spent two hours in what was pretty much a gas station drinking cheap Spanish wine and had a blast, we went to an underground club, literally, an underground club, it was in the Subway station. Brian and I were nearly kidnapped by Canadians. We were nearly stranded on top of a hill overlooking the city. I would need to elaborate in person....

We had some great meals, we had some OK meals. We had great service in some places and just plain out rude in other places. We finished up a dinner at 12:30 in the morning on Saturday night BEFORE going out for the night.

Let's just say that Rome is a LOT of fun. For the most part it is also very beautiful. Dirtier than most German cities but the historical places more than makes up for it in my opinion. Seeing the Vatican was a once in a lifetime possibility as well. We took the somber trip to see the crypt of Pope John Paul the II and wandered around St. Peter's for quite a while. By far, the biggest church I have ever been in. It was very humbling. We went back on Sunday before our flight and also saw Pope Benedict address the people in St. Peter's Square. He had a brief few sentences in English and German but the rest was obviously done in Italian but it was great nonetheless.

It's a Friday and I am about 40 minutes away from my 5pm Hefeweizen!

Take care and enjoy the photos!

D